Manchester United and England star Wayne Rooney has already started planning for life as a manager.
Sir Alex Ferguson has often reported receiving hints from Rooney about his United team selections, advice he usually ignores.
However, it seems the 25-year-old is serious when considering what to do when his own playing days are over.
In an extensive MUTV interview with former United European Cup winner Paddy Crerand, Rooney confirmed he has started to take his coaching badges, and has no fears about beginning a new career on the bottom rung of the ladder.
"I would like to be a manager. That would be my ambition when I finish playing," said Rooney.
"You see the players who have played for Sir Alex and gone on to be good managers. I am hoping to do that one day.
"But I wouldn't like to follow the manager here, or start at an Everton or Manchester United.
"I want to learn something about the lower leagues and build a reputation that way rather than just jumping into a big club.
"It is not right if someone goes in and gets a big job with no experience. There are managers who have worked for years trying to get that."
Of course, United are hoping Rooney remains an invaluable member of Ferguson's squad for some time to come given he only recently signed a lucrative five-and-a-half-year contract extension.
The controversy surrounding that saga will linger for a good while yet.
But, in a revealing insight, in which Rooney confirmed he likes to relax before matches by listening to former Britain's Got Talent contestant Susan Boyle, the striker now concedes he was out of order to demand assurances about United's continued progress from Ferguson and chief executive David Gill.
"I went to see the manager and David Gill and asked them for answers," he recalled.
"Now I realise it has nothing to do with me but I wanted to make sure it was the right thing for me to do.
"I got the answers in the end but looking back it was probably wrong of me to do that."
Rooney did not commit himself to Old Trafford until after a visit from a hooded gang of around 30 to his plush mansion in Prestbury.
It was an alarming evening for Rooney, who could not even venture out to tell his "visitors" that agreement had already been reached.
"I looked out and saw 30 blokes with their hoods up. I wasn't going to invite them in for tea," he recalled.
"I understood some of the fans were disappointed and felt let down. But it was just one of those things I had to get right.
"Thankfully I have sorted it out now. I have made the right decision and made myself happy.
"But I didn't even think about where I was going to go. There was no way I would have gone to Manchester City and there was more chance of me going to City than Liverpool."
Rooney also reflected on England's "terrible" World Cup campaign and his attack on the national team's supporters immediately after the goalless draw with Algeria in Cape Town.
"The emotions were high because we weren't winning," he said.
"Our fans were booing after 10 minutes. That is what I was saying. It was disappointing."
In addition, he also reveals that on the day four years earlier when Cristiano Ronaldo was condemned for trying to get Rooney sent off in Gelsenkirchen, the England man had been guilty of a very similar offence earlier in the game when his then team-mate took a dive.
"I went up to the referee and said he had dived and he should be booked. No one saw that," he shrugged.
"Everyone saw mine because it was a red card."
Rooney still misses Ronaldo now and cannot believe the Portugal superstar is not among the three nominees for this year's Ballon D'Or.
United will not get him back though, which means Rooney must take the scrutiny of his own career, and the present failure to score a goal in open play since March.
"I want to score in every game," he said.
"But the most important thing is for the team to win.
"We have been doing well since I came back and I know I will start scoring goals again, I have no worries about that."
Friday, December 31, 2010
Holloway wants revenge against Manchester City
Blackpool boss Ian Holloway is looking for revenge when his side take on Manchester City at Eastlands tomorrow.
Holloway was incensed at the way the Seasiders lost to City at Bloomfield Road in October, claiming that three crucial wrong decisions had swung the game.
The 47-year-old was aggrieved that Gary Taylor-Fletcher had an effort disallowed when it was still 0-0, thought Carlos Tevez had been offside when opening the scoring and also felt that a foul had been committed against Ian Evatt in the build-up to the Argentinian's second goal, which put City 2-1 ahead.
Roberto Mancini's team eventually triumphed 3-2 and Holloway believes he has a score to settle.
"I want some revenge if we can possibly be good enough to get it," Holloway said.
"I think Man City have improved massively in the period since they played us and that they are going from strength to strength, but we are going to go to their ground and I want to see if we can beat them this time.
"I won't be going there to shut up shop or say 'goodness me, they are fantastic'.
"We are going to try to attack them, so hopefully it will be a good game."
City moved up to second in the table with the result in October and are back there at the moment, with their push for the title seemingly only set to get stronger as they prepare to flex their considerable financial muscle in the January transfer window.
Blackpool, currently eighth, have had a successful time of it themselves in their maiden Barclays Premier League campaign and Holloway is adamant he would not swap positions with Mancini.
Asked if he ever looked at clubs like City and wondered what he might do with the sort of money they have, Holloway said: "No, not at all - I wouldn't want it.
"It's quite obscene at times, isn't it? Trying to keep all of (the players) happy? I wouldn't want it.
"I'd rather do what we're doing. It would be nice to have that sort of wage budget to a point, but it causes all sorts of hassle.
"I'd rather be where we are and I am delighted with it. I wouldn't want the pressure that (Mancini) has got."
One of City's expensive acquisitions who has been in the spotlight recently is striker Mario Balotelli, who notched a hat-trick on Tuesday against Aston Villa to take his tally for the season to eight.
The Italian, bought from Inter Milan in the summer, has rarely celebrated when scoring those goals and Holloway knows it will not necessarily be enough for his side to keep the 20-year-old from smiling on New Year's Day.
"I don't know the kid and I can't really comment on other people's players," Holloway said.
"I hope he is not smiling against us, but that doesn't mean he might not have got a hat-trick! I hope he doesn't score against us is what I should say."
Holloway admits he does not want 2010 - in which the Seasiders have defied expectation by winning promotion and taking 25 points from 17 top-flight fixtures - to come to an end, and thinks the team have a "season-defining" period ahead of them, with seven games currently scheduled for January.
Postponements due to the freezing weather meant Blackpool only played twice in December and Holloway has voiced his support for the introduction of an official winter break.
"The goodwill around here has been great and I feel for the people of the area," Holloway said.
"Saturday games are what we need - then people might come up on the Friday, stay over on Saturday, might even stay until Sunday and we get all that extra business.
"Unfortunately (rearranged) night games aren't the same because people have to go to work the following day.
"So really, I'd like to extend the season. Maybe we should have a winter break if we get winters like this in future.
"It would be nice to let the people of the area benefit fully from this."
Holloway was incensed at the way the Seasiders lost to City at Bloomfield Road in October, claiming that three crucial wrong decisions had swung the game.
The 47-year-old was aggrieved that Gary Taylor-Fletcher had an effort disallowed when it was still 0-0, thought Carlos Tevez had been offside when opening the scoring and also felt that a foul had been committed against Ian Evatt in the build-up to the Argentinian's second goal, which put City 2-1 ahead.
Roberto Mancini's team eventually triumphed 3-2 and Holloway believes he has a score to settle.
"I want some revenge if we can possibly be good enough to get it," Holloway said.
"I think Man City have improved massively in the period since they played us and that they are going from strength to strength, but we are going to go to their ground and I want to see if we can beat them this time.
"I won't be going there to shut up shop or say 'goodness me, they are fantastic'.
"We are going to try to attack them, so hopefully it will be a good game."
City moved up to second in the table with the result in October and are back there at the moment, with their push for the title seemingly only set to get stronger as they prepare to flex their considerable financial muscle in the January transfer window.
Blackpool, currently eighth, have had a successful time of it themselves in their maiden Barclays Premier League campaign and Holloway is adamant he would not swap positions with Mancini.
Asked if he ever looked at clubs like City and wondered what he might do with the sort of money they have, Holloway said: "No, not at all - I wouldn't want it.
"It's quite obscene at times, isn't it? Trying to keep all of (the players) happy? I wouldn't want it.
"I'd rather do what we're doing. It would be nice to have that sort of wage budget to a point, but it causes all sorts of hassle.
"I'd rather be where we are and I am delighted with it. I wouldn't want the pressure that (Mancini) has got."
One of City's expensive acquisitions who has been in the spotlight recently is striker Mario Balotelli, who notched a hat-trick on Tuesday against Aston Villa to take his tally for the season to eight.
The Italian, bought from Inter Milan in the summer, has rarely celebrated when scoring those goals and Holloway knows it will not necessarily be enough for his side to keep the 20-year-old from smiling on New Year's Day.
"I don't know the kid and I can't really comment on other people's players," Holloway said.
"I hope he is not smiling against us, but that doesn't mean he might not have got a hat-trick! I hope he doesn't score against us is what I should say."
Holloway admits he does not want 2010 - in which the Seasiders have defied expectation by winning promotion and taking 25 points from 17 top-flight fixtures - to come to an end, and thinks the team have a "season-defining" period ahead of them, with seven games currently scheduled for January.
Postponements due to the freezing weather meant Blackpool only played twice in December and Holloway has voiced his support for the introduction of an official winter break.
"The goodwill around here has been great and I feel for the people of the area," Holloway said.
"Saturday games are what we need - then people might come up on the Friday, stay over on Saturday, might even stay until Sunday and we get all that extra business.
"Unfortunately (rearranged) night games aren't the same because people have to go to work the following day.
"So really, I'd like to extend the season. Maybe we should have a winter break if we get winters like this in future.
"It would be nice to let the people of the area benefit fully from this."
Thirsty in Thirsk: 3,000 homes without water
Around 3,000 homes and businesses were left without water today after a burst on a major pipe which supplies a pumping station.
Yorkshire Water said it hoped to fix the problem in the Thirsk area within hours, after customers found around 8.30am that their supplies had been cut.
A spokeswoman said: "We apologise to any customers in the Thirsk area who are currently without water due to a burst water main this morning.
"We are working as quickly as possible to carry out repairs to the pipe and hope to have this completed as soon as possible.
"Once the repairs are complete water will start to return to homes, which we expect to happen in the next few hours.
"When water supplies do start returning we would ask customers to use their water sparingly to allow the system to fully recharge as quickly as possible.
"Again we apologise for any disruption that this burst may have caused to customers in the area and thank them for their patience."
A pipe into a pumping station serving Thirsk burst last night and a by-pass was put in place overnight, but when customers demanded water in greater amounts this morning, the temporary system could not cope.
Meanwhile, a major repair operation was swiftly put into action after a burst threatened part of the route of the London 2011 New Year Parade.
The spectacular involving 10,000 performers from 20 countries is watched by 100 million Americans on television as it passes through central London.
A burst water main in Victoria Street, near Great Smith Street, caused the road to be closed off to traffic yesterday, threatening to disrupt travel for revellers and potentially diverting the route of the parade.
Thames Water was praised by Westminster Council for quickly getting a team to the site who spent all day on the repair.
Work to rebuild the road over the top of it is expected to be completed today.
Martin Low, Westminster Council's City Commissioner of Transportation, said: "This helped save the parade, which will be watched by 100 million Americans, from disaster."
The latest burst follows a spate of problems around the country, as the big thaw caused damage to the water infrastructure.
Since Christmas Eve alone, one company was deluged with 40,000 calls reporting problems.
United Utilities, which operates in the North West, said the "unprecedented" volume of calls was 10 times the usual number.
Melting ice can cause the ground to move, putting stress on pipes, making them leak or burst.
Above ground, frozen pipework in homes and businesses is beginning to thaw, leading to more leaks.
Customers have jammed phone lines reporting frozen pipes in their own homes, although companies are not responsible for pipes inside people's houses.
The thaw has caused acute problems in Northern Ireland where thousands of customers' supplies have been cut off.
It could be early next week before all customers are reconnected.
Around an extra 250 megalitres are being pumped into the system every day, Northern Ireland Water said today, but most of it is being lost in leakages from burst pipes.
Newspapers warned over contempt law
The Attorney General warned newspapers today to be mindful of the contempt of court laws in their coverage of Joanna Yeates murder suspect Chris Jefferies.
Dominic Grieve indicated he was considering what action he should take to ensure that the course of justice was not impeded in any way.
"We need to avoid a situation where trials cannot take place or are prejudiced as a result of irrelevant or improper material being published, whether in print form or on the internet, in such a way that a trial becomes impossible," he told BBC Radio 4's The World At One.
Asked whether he was preparing to issue an advisory notice to newspapers, he said: "Clearly, we are considering what I have seen in the newspapers today and we will try to take such action, and it is right to ensure that the course of justice is not in any way impeded."
Mr Grieve stressed that there was "freedom of the press", but newspapers have to comply with the Contempt of Court Act to avoid prejudicing possible future trials.
His comments come amid heavy media scrutiny of Jefferies, who was arrested yesterday on suspicion of murder.
"I don't want to comment on the precise coverage today, but I think it's important to understand that the contempt of court rules are there to protect the rule of law and the fair trial process and they require newspapers, and indeed anyone who is covering material, to do that in a way that doesn't prejudice the possibility of a fair trial taking place at a later date," Mr Grieve said.
The Attorney General - the Government's top law officer - added that newspapers were "pretty familiar" with the contempt of court rules.
"In those circumstances I would simply ask them to reflect carefully on how they provide proper coverage on a matter of public importance while at the same time, mindful of how our legal system works, they can also ensure that a trial process - if one were ever to happen - would not be prejudiced by material being published that may be irrelevant to any case that comes before the court but could be seriously prejudicial to an individual who is standing trial.
"That is the key issue that needs to be considered."
Australia floods strand 200,000
Military aircraft dropped supplies to towns cut off by floods in northeastern Australia as the prime minister promised new assistance today to the 200,000 people affected by waters covering an area larger than France and Germany combined.
Residents were stocking up on food or evacuating their homes as rising rivers inundated or isolated 22 towns in the state of Queensland.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard toured an evacuation centre in the flood-stricken town of Bundaberg today and announced that families whose homes had been flooded or damaged would be eligible for disaster relief payments of $1,000 per adult and $400 per child.
"My concern is for the people in these very difficult times," Gillard said.
A day earlier, she pledged $1 million Australian dollars in federal aid to match a relief fund already set up by the state government.
Bundaberg resident Sandy Kiddle told Gillard she lost cherished items after floodwaters surged through her house. She said may not be able to return home for a week.
"It was just a sea of water, and I thought the beach would never come to our house," she told Gillard, who gave her a hug.
Officials say half of Queensland's 715,305 square miles is affected by the relentless flooding, which began last week after days of pounding rain caused swollen rivers to overflow. The flood zone covers an area larger than France and Germany combined and bigger than the state of Texas.
While the rain has stopped, the rivers are still surging to new heights and overflowing into low-lying towns as the water makes its way toward the sea.
The muddy water inundating thousands of homes and businesses has led to a shortage of drinking water and raised fears of mosquito-borne disease.
"This is without a doubt a tragedy on an unprecedented scale," Queensland Premier Anna Bligh told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Bligh warned that drenched communities could be stuck underwater for more than a week, and cleanup efforts were expected to cost billions of dollars.
The Department of Community Safety said supplies of food and bedding were delivered by road and by military aircraft today to the towns of Rockhampton, Emerald, Springsure and Blackwater in central-east Queensland.
Northeastern Australia often sees heavy rains and flooding during the Southern Hemisphere summer, but the scope of the damage from the recent downpours is unusual.
The entire population of two towns has already been forced to evacuate as water swamped their communities, cutting off roads and devastating crops. The next city in the water's path — Rockhampton, near the coast — is bracing for flood levels forecast at 9.4 metres by Monday or Tuesday.
Roads and railway lines were expected to be cut off by Saturday, and the city's airport planned to shut down over the weekend.
"This is a very serious situation," said Rockhampton Mayor Brad Carter, saying that level would affect up to 40 per cent of the city. "Police are ordering people in affected areas to leave their homes."
Officials were evacuating residents today, starting with the elderly and those living in low-lying areas.
There were concerns over food supplies in the city, with many stores already sold out of bread, milk and fresh meat, Carter said.
Gary Boyer, regional manager of supermarket chain Woolworths, said the company was sending 43 trucks full of supplies into Rockhampton on Friday.
Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes this week. In the central Queensland town of Emerald, about 1,000 people were evacuated in the last 24 hours.
The town was facing food shortages, power outages and sewage-contaminated floodwaters, county mayor Peter Maguire said. Three evacuation centers have been set up to help displaced residents.
Residents were stocking up on food or evacuating their homes as rising rivers inundated or isolated 22 towns in the state of Queensland.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard toured an evacuation centre in the flood-stricken town of Bundaberg today and announced that families whose homes had been flooded or damaged would be eligible for disaster relief payments of $1,000 per adult and $400 per child.
"My concern is for the people in these very difficult times," Gillard said.
A day earlier, she pledged $1 million Australian dollars in federal aid to match a relief fund already set up by the state government.
Bundaberg resident Sandy Kiddle told Gillard she lost cherished items after floodwaters surged through her house. She said may not be able to return home for a week.
"It was just a sea of water, and I thought the beach would never come to our house," she told Gillard, who gave her a hug.
Officials say half of Queensland's 715,305 square miles is affected by the relentless flooding, which began last week after days of pounding rain caused swollen rivers to overflow. The flood zone covers an area larger than France and Germany combined and bigger than the state of Texas.
While the rain has stopped, the rivers are still surging to new heights and overflowing into low-lying towns as the water makes its way toward the sea.
The muddy water inundating thousands of homes and businesses has led to a shortage of drinking water and raised fears of mosquito-borne disease.
"This is without a doubt a tragedy on an unprecedented scale," Queensland Premier Anna Bligh told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Bligh warned that drenched communities could be stuck underwater for more than a week, and cleanup efforts were expected to cost billions of dollars.
The Department of Community Safety said supplies of food and bedding were delivered by road and by military aircraft today to the towns of Rockhampton, Emerald, Springsure and Blackwater in central-east Queensland.
Northeastern Australia often sees heavy rains and flooding during the Southern Hemisphere summer, but the scope of the damage from the recent downpours is unusual.
The entire population of two towns has already been forced to evacuate as water swamped their communities, cutting off roads and devastating crops. The next city in the water's path — Rockhampton, near the coast — is bracing for flood levels forecast at 9.4 metres by Monday or Tuesday.
Roads and railway lines were expected to be cut off by Saturday, and the city's airport planned to shut down over the weekend.
"This is a very serious situation," said Rockhampton Mayor Brad Carter, saying that level would affect up to 40 per cent of the city. "Police are ordering people in affected areas to leave their homes."
Officials were evacuating residents today, starting with the elderly and those living in low-lying areas.
There were concerns over food supplies in the city, with many stores already sold out of bread, milk and fresh meat, Carter said.
Gary Boyer, regional manager of supermarket chain Woolworths, said the company was sending 43 trucks full of supplies into Rockhampton on Friday.
Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes this week. In the central Queensland town of Emerald, about 1,000 people were evacuated in the last 24 hours.
The town was facing food shortages, power outages and sewage-contaminated floodwaters, county mayor Peter Maguire said. Three evacuation centers have been set up to help displaced residents.
Britain's rivers come back to life
Britain's rivers, some of which were little better than sewers a generation ago, are now at their cleanest for more than a century.
In the past decade, our waterways have returned to conditions not seen since before the industrial revolution, the Environment Agency says.
Water quality has improved so much in some places that a number of wildlife species are returning to watercourses from which they had vanished, including salmon, otters and water voles. Figures show that water quality has improved year on year for the past two decades, and serious water pollution incidents have more than halved since 2001, according to the agency.
Meanwhile, the river Thames, which half a century ago was declared "biologically dead" at Tower Bridge in London, won a coveted international prize this year for its environmental value.
"The last decade shows how far we've come in reducing pollution and improving water quality and river habitats," said Ian Barker, the agency's head of water. "Rivers in England and Wales are at their healthiest for over a century, with otters, salmon and other wildlife returning to many rivers in record numbers in locations across the country." The agency's claims need to be qualified, because by other, European, standards which are tougher, a majority of our rivers still have a long away to go.
But there is no doubt that the picture of solid improvement painted by the agency in an end-of-year review is a genuine one. A generation ago many British rivers were little better than foul-smelling drains. Such channels of untreated pollution are now largely a thing of the past, thanks to policing by the agency and investment by water companies (and also to the fact that most of Britain's heavy, old-fashioned smokestack industry, once the major pollution source, has disappeared).
As a result, water cleanliness has improved everywhere, and even rivers associated with great cities, such as the Thames in London, the Mersey in Merseyside and Greater Manchester, and the Tyne in Newcastle, are seeing a major resurgence of life.
This year the Thames beat hundreds of other rivers across the world to win the International Theiss River Prize, which celebrates outstanding achievement in river management and restoration. The prize recognised the astonishing transformation which the river has undergone, especially since the introduction of treatment for London's sewage, which once was dumped raw into the river.
Whereas a 1958 survey at Tower Bridge found no fish in the river, the Thames is now home to at least 125 different fish species, including smelt and shad – while its estuary supports shellfisheries and is a nursery for commercial sole and bass stocks.
The river is now clean enough for salmon to swim up (although 30 years of effort have not yet succeeded in producing the Thames's own self-sustaining salmon population). Once polluted tributaries, such as the river Wandle in the heart of London, are now so clean that they can support brown trout.
The Mersey, which once was also biologically dead, now also has a run of salmon and sea trout, while the river Tyne is now the most productive salmon river in England. July this year saw a record month for levels of Tyne sea trout and salmon, with 9,240 counted – the highest since records began.
The widespread return of the otter, which had undergone a catastrophic population decline because of pesticide pollution, is also evidence of rising river water quality. The number of sites with evidence of otter life has risen tenfold in 30 years, with records increasing from 5.8 per cent in 1977-79 to 58.8 per cent in 2009-10. In the South-west and the river Wye catchment, otter populations have probably reached maximum capacity, with those in Northumbria, Cumbria, Wessex and the upper Severn close to that, and Kent being the only county in England where no otters have yet returned.
Otter recovery is spreading towards the South-east from traditional strongholds in the north and South-west, and it is predicted that the population will spread to Kent within the next 10 years, the agency says.
There is also encouraging news about the water vole, immortalised as Ratty in The Wind in the Willows. The animals were once a common sight on waterways across the UK but in the 1990s their populations began to decline dramatically, until 90 per cent had disappeared, making them the fastest declining mammal in the UK. However, the water vole is also making a welcome comeback, and, earlier this year, a survey discovered 30 locations where the mammal is regrouping
The agency's claims should be qualified, however, by the fact that its yardstick is the level of chemical pollutants found in the water, and this has indeed steadily declined year on year. But there is another way of measuring river health, which is how much life in total exists in the river (such as invertebrates, fish and plants) compared to what would be expected in a pristine state – in other words, its ecological as opposed to its chemical quality.
A new European law, the Water Framework Directive, will make ecological quality the new benchmark, and from 2015 Britain's rivers will be expected to be of "good" ecological quality. Yet, at the moment, only 26 per cent of rivers in England and Wales hit that target, with 56 per cent of "moderate" quality, 14 per cent "poor" and 2 per cent "bad".
Case study: 'Dead' waterway where 100 fish species now live
The restoration of the river Thames has been a remarkable achievement, at last properly recognised with the International Theiss River Prize in October.
For nearly 150 years the river was dead; its dying began at the end of the Napoleonic wars, when the introduction of the water closet meant that raw sewage was dumped into the river, and the advent of gas lighting in the capital meant the pollution residues from gasworks went into the river too. It was an excellent salmon river, but the last free-run Thames salmon was caught in 1833.
The river remained lifeless and filthy until, in the 1950s and 1960s, the two enormous sewage outlets, at Crossness and Beckton in the Thames estuary, which were pouring thousands of gallons of untreated filth into the river every day, began to be cleaned up. The water quality improved dramatically and, on 12 November 1974, the amazing happened – a 9lb (4kg) female salmon was found in the intake screens of West Thurrock power station. It was so surprising that it was sent to the British Museum for positive identification.
Since then the improvement in the Thames has been unceasing, and the once-lifeless watercourse now hosts more than 100 fish species. The biggest efforts have gone into restoring salmon, the iconic symbol of a clean river, but a self-sustaining population has not yet developed.
In the past decade, our waterways have returned to conditions not seen since before the industrial revolution, the Environment Agency says.
Water quality has improved so much in some places that a number of wildlife species are returning to watercourses from which they had vanished, including salmon, otters and water voles. Figures show that water quality has improved year on year for the past two decades, and serious water pollution incidents have more than halved since 2001, according to the agency.
Meanwhile, the river Thames, which half a century ago was declared "biologically dead" at Tower Bridge in London, won a coveted international prize this year for its environmental value.
"The last decade shows how far we've come in reducing pollution and improving water quality and river habitats," said Ian Barker, the agency's head of water. "Rivers in England and Wales are at their healthiest for over a century, with otters, salmon and other wildlife returning to many rivers in record numbers in locations across the country." The agency's claims need to be qualified, because by other, European, standards which are tougher, a majority of our rivers still have a long away to go.
But there is no doubt that the picture of solid improvement painted by the agency in an end-of-year review is a genuine one. A generation ago many British rivers were little better than foul-smelling drains. Such channels of untreated pollution are now largely a thing of the past, thanks to policing by the agency and investment by water companies (and also to the fact that most of Britain's heavy, old-fashioned smokestack industry, once the major pollution source, has disappeared).
As a result, water cleanliness has improved everywhere, and even rivers associated with great cities, such as the Thames in London, the Mersey in Merseyside and Greater Manchester, and the Tyne in Newcastle, are seeing a major resurgence of life.
This year the Thames beat hundreds of other rivers across the world to win the International Theiss River Prize, which celebrates outstanding achievement in river management and restoration. The prize recognised the astonishing transformation which the river has undergone, especially since the introduction of treatment for London's sewage, which once was dumped raw into the river.
Whereas a 1958 survey at Tower Bridge found no fish in the river, the Thames is now home to at least 125 different fish species, including smelt and shad – while its estuary supports shellfisheries and is a nursery for commercial sole and bass stocks.
The river is now clean enough for salmon to swim up (although 30 years of effort have not yet succeeded in producing the Thames's own self-sustaining salmon population). Once polluted tributaries, such as the river Wandle in the heart of London, are now so clean that they can support brown trout.
The Mersey, which once was also biologically dead, now also has a run of salmon and sea trout, while the river Tyne is now the most productive salmon river in England. July this year saw a record month for levels of Tyne sea trout and salmon, with 9,240 counted – the highest since records began.
The widespread return of the otter, which had undergone a catastrophic population decline because of pesticide pollution, is also evidence of rising river water quality. The number of sites with evidence of otter life has risen tenfold in 30 years, with records increasing from 5.8 per cent in 1977-79 to 58.8 per cent in 2009-10. In the South-west and the river Wye catchment, otter populations have probably reached maximum capacity, with those in Northumbria, Cumbria, Wessex and the upper Severn close to that, and Kent being the only county in England where no otters have yet returned.
Otter recovery is spreading towards the South-east from traditional strongholds in the north and South-west, and it is predicted that the population will spread to Kent within the next 10 years, the agency says.
There is also encouraging news about the water vole, immortalised as Ratty in The Wind in the Willows. The animals were once a common sight on waterways across the UK but in the 1990s their populations began to decline dramatically, until 90 per cent had disappeared, making them the fastest declining mammal in the UK. However, the water vole is also making a welcome comeback, and, earlier this year, a survey discovered 30 locations where the mammal is regrouping
The agency's claims should be qualified, however, by the fact that its yardstick is the level of chemical pollutants found in the water, and this has indeed steadily declined year on year. But there is another way of measuring river health, which is how much life in total exists in the river (such as invertebrates, fish and plants) compared to what would be expected in a pristine state – in other words, its ecological as opposed to its chemical quality.
A new European law, the Water Framework Directive, will make ecological quality the new benchmark, and from 2015 Britain's rivers will be expected to be of "good" ecological quality. Yet, at the moment, only 26 per cent of rivers in England and Wales hit that target, with 56 per cent of "moderate" quality, 14 per cent "poor" and 2 per cent "bad".
Case study: 'Dead' waterway where 100 fish species now live
The restoration of the river Thames has been a remarkable achievement, at last properly recognised with the International Theiss River Prize in October.
For nearly 150 years the river was dead; its dying began at the end of the Napoleonic wars, when the introduction of the water closet meant that raw sewage was dumped into the river, and the advent of gas lighting in the capital meant the pollution residues from gasworks went into the river too. It was an excellent salmon river, but the last free-run Thames salmon was caught in 1833.
The river remained lifeless and filthy until, in the 1950s and 1960s, the two enormous sewage outlets, at Crossness and Beckton in the Thames estuary, which were pouring thousands of gallons of untreated filth into the river every day, began to be cleaned up. The water quality improved dramatically and, on 12 November 1974, the amazing happened – a 9lb (4kg) female salmon was found in the intake screens of West Thurrock power station. It was so surprising that it was sent to the British Museum for positive identification.
Since then the improvement in the Thames has been unceasing, and the once-lifeless watercourse now hosts more than 100 fish species. The biggest efforts have gone into restoring salmon, the iconic symbol of a clean river, but a self-sustaining population has not yet developed.
Millions gathering worldwide to ring in new year
New Zealanders sang and danced their way into 2011, with firework displays and sold-out concerts entertaining revellers in one of the first countries in the world to welcome the new year.
In the biggest city, Auckland, explosions of red, gold and white burst over the Sky Tower while tens of thousands shouted, danced and sang in the streets below.
In the southern city of Christchurch, thousands of partiers shrugged off a minor 3.3 earthquake that struck just before 10pm and celebrated in Cathedral Square. The city has rumbled with thousands of aftershocks from a powerful 7.1-magnitude quake that damaged buildings across the city on 4 September.
New Zealand police reported only minor incidents as revelers in dozens of towns, cities and rural gatherings celebrated at open air concerts and pyrotechnic displays.
As the clock ticked closer to 2011, cities across Asia readied for midnight events ranging from traditional prayers in Japan to a massive pyrotechnic display in the shape of a dragon in Taiwan. Europeans were looking forward to celebrations that could help them forget their economic worries.
Across the Tasman Sea in Sydney, Australia, 1.5 million people gathered on folding chairs, picnic blankets and blowup beds to watch the spectacular fireworks over the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Organisers have promised a special midnight finale to the display, always one of the world's top New Year's pyrotechnic shows.
A 9pm preview wowed the crowds who had been waiting all day.
"I'm so glad they aren't disappointing after such a long wait," said Ross Bagnato, 35, who said he was nearly falling asleep after waiting almost 12 hours.
At the Opera Bar Beach House, hundreds of people paid up to $500 for the view and a party with a beach theme.
"This has got to be the best place to be in the world tonight," said guest Marc Wilson, 41.
In New York City, nearly a million revelers were expected to cram into the streets around Times Square to watch the traditional midnight ball drop. The 20-inch snowstorm that blanketed the city will be just a memory thanks to work crews and warmer temperatures.
At midnight yesterday — with just 24 hours to go — hundreds of people milled around Times Square as crews finished preparing TV sets for New Year's Eve broadcasts and vendors sold hats and noisemakers.
Among the tourists were students from Grand Valley State University near Grand Rapids, Michigan, who were scoping out a good location for Friday night and marveling at the preparations.
"For sure, we're going to be here," said Ahmed Lachheb, 23, from Sfax, Tunisia.
"I'm going to be here near the closest restroom just in case," added Mohamed Azuz, also 23, from Tripoli, Libya.
This year marks the first time Vietnam's capital, Hanoi, officially celebrates the new year with a countdown blowout, complete with a light show and foreign DJs in front of the city's elegant French colonial-style opera house.
Vietnamese typically save their biggest celebrations for Tet, the lunar new year that begins on 3 February. But in recent years, the Western influence has started seeping into Vietnamese culture among teens, who have no memory of war or poverty and are eager to find a new reason to party in the Communist country.
At midnight in Taipei, Taiwan, fireworks will form a spiraling dragon climbing up the city's tallest skyscraper.
In Japan, New Year's Eve is generally spent at home with family but those who venture out go to temples to pray for good luck in the new year. At Zojoji, a 600-year-old Buddhist temple in central Tokyo, thousands were expected to release balloons at midnight carrying notes with their hopes for 2011.
In the Philippines, powerful firecrackers have injured at least 245 people in recent days and Health Secretary Enrique Ona urged safety during today's celebrations, saying he feared up to 1,000 injuries.
Many Filipinos, influenced by Chinese tradition, believe that noisy New Year's celebrations drive away evil and misfortune. But they have carried that superstition to extremes, exploding huge firecrackers sometimes bigger than dynamite sticks to welcome the new year.
In Europe, many people will be partying simply to forget their economic woes after a year that saw Greece and Ireland needing financial bailouts and others, such as Spain and Portugal, battling speculation that they will need similar aid.
In London, thousands will witness a musical and firework display at the London Eye. The Eye, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary, lies almost opposite the Big Ben clock tower at Parliament that will chime in 2011.
If not at home or at private parties, Spaniards traditionally gather in their main town squares to eat 12 grapes one by one as the bell in the square marks the countdown to 2011.
In Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in her New Year message that Europe is dealing with a major test and must strengthen the euro, even as she celebrated Germany's emergence from the economic crisis, powered by strong exports.
Merkel said in her televised message being broadcast Friday that "it was a good year for Germany."
Still, Merkel said that "we will have to prove our strengths in future too."
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Oil slips under $91, U.S. inventory data in focus
LONDON - Oil prices slipped under $91 in thin trading volumes on Thursday before the release of the latest weekly U.S. oil inventory data, which is expected to show a drawdown in crude stocks for the fourth consecutive week.
U.S. crude for February delivery fell 37 cents to $90.75 a barrel by 1151 GMT. ICE Brent crude shed 30 cents to $93.84.
Prices have traded range-bound near $91 a barrel after touching 26-month highs of $91.88 a barrel at the start of the week.
Focus will come from the release of the U.S. Energy Information Administration's latest weekly reading due 1600 GMT.
Analysts forecast a 2.6 million barrel drawdown in crude inventories, potentially marking the fourth straight weekly fall.
Middle distillate stocks are expected to have fallen 600,000 barrels, according to the survey, as abnormally cold weather stimulated demand; while gasoline stocks are forecast up 1.4 million barrels.
But Wednesday's report by industry group American Petroleum Institute (API) confounded analysts' expectations with a 3.1 million-barrel rise in crude stocks.
The API data also showed a build of 4.1 million crude barrels in the MidWest, or PADD 2.
"If the DOE was to confirm the API, then at 99.1 million barrels it would be the highest level ever for crude oil stocks in the Midwest (Padd2)," Petromatrix's Olivier Jakob said, which could pressure prices.
VOLUMES THIN AHEAD OF NEW YEAR
Volumes were thin with 14,085 deals by 1149 GMT compared with a daily average of around 105,369 over the past three days.
"It's relatively quiet trading today with a very short range and low volatility, (the prices have done) just a few cents in both directions," Commerzbank commodities analyst Daniel Briesemann said.
"We must wait until beginning of next year to get a clearer picture of where prices will go."
Elsewhere, the yuan rose to a record of 6.613 against the dollar after a senior Chinese central bank official said a gradual appreciation would help curb inflation and rebalance the economy.
Data showing that Chinese manufacturing inflation was easing lent weight to expectations the government will stick to a more gradual, versus aggressive monetary tightening policy.
China - the world's second-biggest oil consumer after the United States - lifted benchmark interest rates last weekend, the second in just over two months.
U.S. crude for February delivery fell 37 cents to $90.75 a barrel by 1151 GMT. ICE Brent crude shed 30 cents to $93.84.
Prices have traded range-bound near $91 a barrel after touching 26-month highs of $91.88 a barrel at the start of the week.
Focus will come from the release of the U.S. Energy Information Administration's latest weekly reading due 1600 GMT.
Analysts forecast a 2.6 million barrel drawdown in crude inventories, potentially marking the fourth straight weekly fall.
Middle distillate stocks are expected to have fallen 600,000 barrels, according to the survey, as abnormally cold weather stimulated demand; while gasoline stocks are forecast up 1.4 million barrels.
But Wednesday's report by industry group American Petroleum Institute (API) confounded analysts' expectations with a 3.1 million-barrel rise in crude stocks.
The API data also showed a build of 4.1 million crude barrels in the MidWest, or PADD 2.
"If the DOE was to confirm the API, then at 99.1 million barrels it would be the highest level ever for crude oil stocks in the Midwest (Padd2)," Petromatrix's Olivier Jakob said, which could pressure prices.
VOLUMES THIN AHEAD OF NEW YEAR
Volumes were thin with 14,085 deals by 1149 GMT compared with a daily average of around 105,369 over the past three days.
"It's relatively quiet trading today with a very short range and low volatility, (the prices have done) just a few cents in both directions," Commerzbank commodities analyst Daniel Briesemann said.
"We must wait until beginning of next year to get a clearer picture of where prices will go."
Elsewhere, the yuan rose to a record of 6.613 against the dollar after a senior Chinese central bank official said a gradual appreciation would help curb inflation and rebalance the economy.
Data showing that Chinese manufacturing inflation was easing lent weight to expectations the government will stick to a more gradual, versus aggressive monetary tightening policy.
China - the world's second-biggest oil consumer after the United States - lifted benchmark interest rates last weekend, the second in just over two months.
Weak dollar helps gold, spurs silver, palladium
LONDON - Weakness in the U.S. dollar and a year-end flurry of investment in commodities kept gold near its highest in three weeks on Thursday, while palladium hit fresh nine-year highs after almost doubling in price this year.
Silver shot to new 30-year peaks as it benefited from strength in other industrial commodities, putting it on course for an 83 percent gain this year, its strongest performance in nearly 30 years.
The dollar weakened broadly after the largest one-day decline in five-year Treasury yields in three months removed some of the currency's appeal to non-U.S. investors.
Gold is set for its tenth consecutive annual gain, having risen by nearly 30 percent in 2010, its strongest yearly performance since a 31 percent rise in 2007 when the global financial crisis began to unfold.
Spot gold was last at $1,411.45 an ounce by 1227 GMT, having risen for three straight trading sessions to its highest since Dec. 7, when it touched a record high $1,430.95.
Gold's inverse correlation to the dollar index reached its strongest in eight weeks on a 30-day rolling basis.
"Overall, I don't think today or tomorrow we are going to have any kind of correction as such," said Afshin Nabavi, MKS Finance head of trading.
"I'm quite friendly towards it and probably feel that tomorrow night we are going to end the year with some fireworks as well," referring to the potential for gains in other metals.
BOOST TO GOLD
The euro zone debt crisis, which unfolded in April this year and culminated in multi-billion euro international bailouts for both Greece and Ireland, has been one of the prime drivers of investment demand for gold.
Holdings of gold in the SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest exchange-traded fund backed by physical bullion, have risen 15 percent this year to 1,284.062 tonnes, and a near 20 percent rise in open interest in U.S. gold futures also reflects some of this investor desire to hold gold.
Gold prices were well supported after breaking above the key $1,400 threshold earlier this week, helped by strong physical demand in Asia.
Palladium notched up a fourth straight day of increases and was set for a second year of gains, having almost doubled to near $800 an ounce over the course of 2010 and is this year's top performing commodity.
Analysts widely expect a surge in demand for palladium next year, mainly from China, which boasts the world's largest auto market that is dominated by gasoline-powered vehicles, which use palladium in their catalytic converters.
The ratio of platinum to palladium has fallen to its lowest in about eight years this year, mirroring palladium's outperformance over platinum, which relies heavily on the flagging European car market as a source of industrial demand.
Spot palladium rose to a nine-year high of $795.00 before trading back at $792.97, up 0.3 percent on the day, while platinum rose to a session high of $1,767.5, its highest since Nov 11, before holding largely steady at $1,753.99.
Silver hit a 30-year high of $30.88 an ounce, before easing to $30.69, up 0.5 percent on the day.
In the penultimate trading day of the year, investors will keep their eye on the weekly initial jobless claims data from the United States to gauge the health of the world's largest economy.
"If the initial claims data comes positive, it could prompt some profit-taking in gold," said Ong Yi Ling, an analyst at Phillip Futures.
Silver shot to new 30-year peaks as it benefited from strength in other industrial commodities, putting it on course for an 83 percent gain this year, its strongest performance in nearly 30 years.
The dollar weakened broadly after the largest one-day decline in five-year Treasury yields in three months removed some of the currency's appeal to non-U.S. investors.
Gold is set for its tenth consecutive annual gain, having risen by nearly 30 percent in 2010, its strongest yearly performance since a 31 percent rise in 2007 when the global financial crisis began to unfold.
Spot gold was last at $1,411.45 an ounce by 1227 GMT, having risen for three straight trading sessions to its highest since Dec. 7, when it touched a record high $1,430.95.
Gold's inverse correlation to the dollar index reached its strongest in eight weeks on a 30-day rolling basis.
"Overall, I don't think today or tomorrow we are going to have any kind of correction as such," said Afshin Nabavi, MKS Finance head of trading.
"I'm quite friendly towards it and probably feel that tomorrow night we are going to end the year with some fireworks as well," referring to the potential for gains in other metals.
BOOST TO GOLD
The euro zone debt crisis, which unfolded in April this year and culminated in multi-billion euro international bailouts for both Greece and Ireland, has been one of the prime drivers of investment demand for gold.
Holdings of gold in the SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest exchange-traded fund backed by physical bullion, have risen 15 percent this year to 1,284.062 tonnes, and a near 20 percent rise in open interest in U.S. gold futures also reflects some of this investor desire to hold gold.
Gold prices were well supported after breaking above the key $1,400 threshold earlier this week, helped by strong physical demand in Asia.
Palladium notched up a fourth straight day of increases and was set for a second year of gains, having almost doubled to near $800 an ounce over the course of 2010 and is this year's top performing commodity.
Analysts widely expect a surge in demand for palladium next year, mainly from China, which boasts the world's largest auto market that is dominated by gasoline-powered vehicles, which use palladium in their catalytic converters.
The ratio of platinum to palladium has fallen to its lowest in about eight years this year, mirroring palladium's outperformance over platinum, which relies heavily on the flagging European car market as a source of industrial demand.
Spot palladium rose to a nine-year high of $795.00 before trading back at $792.97, up 0.3 percent on the day, while platinum rose to a session high of $1,767.5, its highest since Nov 11, before holding largely steady at $1,753.99.
Silver hit a 30-year high of $30.88 an ounce, before easing to $30.69, up 0.5 percent on the day.
In the penultimate trading day of the year, investors will keep their eye on the weekly initial jobless claims data from the United States to gauge the health of the world's largest economy.
"If the initial claims data comes positive, it could prompt some profit-taking in gold," said Ong Yi Ling, an analyst at Phillip Futures.
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Gulf markets mixed in volatile 2010
KUWAIT CITY - Stock markets in the energy-rich Gulf end 2010 mixed, with strong oil prices and the decision to award Qatar the right to host the 2022 World Cup offset by financial shockwaves in Dubai and Europe.
Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman ended the year in positive territory but Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates' Dubai and Abu Dhabi and Bahrain finished in the red, with Dubai topping the list.
All seven markets fluctuated in 2010, particularly in the second quarter, impacted by major economic developments as they tried to recover from the global economic crisis.
All made gains in the second half, tracking oil price movements which breached 90 dollars a barrel.
The Arab states in the Gulf sit on about 45 percent of global oil reserves and around a fifth of natural gas deposits, and they pump around 15 million barrels a day, or 18 percent of world oil supplies.
The seven bourses added around 90 billion dollars to their capitalisation which ended the year at 770 billion dollars, according to the Abu Dhabi-based Arab Monetary Fund.
That is still far below their end-2007 value of 1.116 trillion dollars, however.
Higher oil prices have boosted revenues and subsequently increased the Gulf nations' domestic spending and savings in their sovereign wealth funds.
Qatar Exchange, formerly Doha Securities Market, led Gulf gainers to end the year up by an impressive 24.8 percent at 8,681.65 points, with more than half of that in the fourth quarter.
At half year, Qatar had dropped slightly below 2009's close, but it made a remarkable recovery in the second half on the back of a booming economy and winning the right to host the 2022 World Cup.
Qatar Exchange capitalisation rose by around 40 billion dollars to end the year at 123 billion dollars. Last year, Qatar Exchange index rose by just 1.06 percent.
The Saudi Tadawul All-Shares Index (TASI), the most capitalised Arab bourse, ended 8.15 percent higher at 6,620.75 points for the second year in a row, after slumping 56.5 percent in 2008 because of the economic downturn.
TASI was carried on the back of market-leading petrochemicals sector, which includes giant SABIC, that gained 20.8 percent and banks which added 6.7 percent. SABIC alone was 27 percent higher.
TASI hit a year high of 6,929.40 points in late April before plunging to its lowest of 5,760.33 points in late May.
Kuwait Stock Exchange, the second largest Arab bourse, finished in the red for the second year running, shedding just 0.7 percent to close 2010 at 6,955.5 points. In 2009, it dipped 10.0 percent.
The Kuwaiti bourse has been severely impacted by political instability and debt among many of its investment firms.
KIPCO Asset Management Co. (KAMCO) said in a report that KSE was still reeling from the global economic downturn, a severe credit crunch and a plunge in real estate values.
The main problem remains small struggling companies which have impacted the price-weighted index, while the value-weighted index, representing major listed firms, rose by 26 percent in 2010, KAMCO said.
The two UAE bourses ended the year in the red because of Dubai's debt problem. Most losses came in the first half, before a settlement was reached for part of Dubai debt.
The Dubai Financial Market closed the year down 9.6 percent at 1,630.5 points. In the first half, the DFM index shed 19 percent to around 1,455 points. Market leader Emaar properties lost around 11 percent in the year.
In 2008, DFM shed around 73 percent before recovering 10.3 percent last year.
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange dropped 1.36 percent to finish the year at 2,719.87 points. In the first six months it lost 8.4 percent, before recovering in the second half.
The market added 14.8 percent last year after shedding 47.5 percent in 2008.
Bahrain Stock Exchange again ended in the red, dropping 1.8 percent to close at 1,432.26 points. In 2009, it dived 19.2 percent.
The other small Muscat Securities Market gained 6.0 percent to finish the year at 6,755.0 points after gaining 17.0 percent in 2009.
Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman ended the year in positive territory but Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates' Dubai and Abu Dhabi and Bahrain finished in the red, with Dubai topping the list.
All seven markets fluctuated in 2010, particularly in the second quarter, impacted by major economic developments as they tried to recover from the global economic crisis.
All made gains in the second half, tracking oil price movements which breached 90 dollars a barrel.
The Arab states in the Gulf sit on about 45 percent of global oil reserves and around a fifth of natural gas deposits, and they pump around 15 million barrels a day, or 18 percent of world oil supplies.
The seven bourses added around 90 billion dollars to their capitalisation which ended the year at 770 billion dollars, according to the Abu Dhabi-based Arab Monetary Fund.
That is still far below their end-2007 value of 1.116 trillion dollars, however.
Higher oil prices have boosted revenues and subsequently increased the Gulf nations' domestic spending and savings in their sovereign wealth funds.
Qatar Exchange, formerly Doha Securities Market, led Gulf gainers to end the year up by an impressive 24.8 percent at 8,681.65 points, with more than half of that in the fourth quarter.
At half year, Qatar had dropped slightly below 2009's close, but it made a remarkable recovery in the second half on the back of a booming economy and winning the right to host the 2022 World Cup.
Qatar Exchange capitalisation rose by around 40 billion dollars to end the year at 123 billion dollars. Last year, Qatar Exchange index rose by just 1.06 percent.
The Saudi Tadawul All-Shares Index (TASI), the most capitalised Arab bourse, ended 8.15 percent higher at 6,620.75 points for the second year in a row, after slumping 56.5 percent in 2008 because of the economic downturn.
TASI was carried on the back of market-leading petrochemicals sector, which includes giant SABIC, that gained 20.8 percent and banks which added 6.7 percent. SABIC alone was 27 percent higher.
TASI hit a year high of 6,929.40 points in late April before plunging to its lowest of 5,760.33 points in late May.
Kuwait Stock Exchange, the second largest Arab bourse, finished in the red for the second year running, shedding just 0.7 percent to close 2010 at 6,955.5 points. In 2009, it dipped 10.0 percent.
The Kuwaiti bourse has been severely impacted by political instability and debt among many of its investment firms.
KIPCO Asset Management Co. (KAMCO) said in a report that KSE was still reeling from the global economic downturn, a severe credit crunch and a plunge in real estate values.
The main problem remains small struggling companies which have impacted the price-weighted index, while the value-weighted index, representing major listed firms, rose by 26 percent in 2010, KAMCO said.
The two UAE bourses ended the year in the red because of Dubai's debt problem. Most losses came in the first half, before a settlement was reached for part of Dubai debt.
The Dubai Financial Market closed the year down 9.6 percent at 1,630.5 points. In the first half, the DFM index shed 19 percent to around 1,455 points. Market leader Emaar properties lost around 11 percent in the year.
In 2008, DFM shed around 73 percent before recovering 10.3 percent last year.
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange dropped 1.36 percent to finish the year at 2,719.87 points. In the first six months it lost 8.4 percent, before recovering in the second half.
The market added 14.8 percent last year after shedding 47.5 percent in 2008.
Bahrain Stock Exchange again ended in the red, dropping 1.8 percent to close at 1,432.26 points. In 2009, it dived 19.2 percent.
The other small Muscat Securities Market gained 6.0 percent to finish the year at 6,755.0 points after gaining 17.0 percent in 2009.
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Turkish president seeks to ease Kurdish tensions
ANKARA - Turkey's president traveled to the country's Kurdish-dominated southeast Thursday, a day after the country's civilian and military leaders rejected the minority's demands for autonomy and recognition of their language.
Kurdish politicians and activists have been aggressively promoting official use of Kurdish in recent months as part of their growing demands for regional autonomy — a goal shared by rebels whose fight has killed tens of thousands of people so far.
The pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, buoyed by steps taken by the government in expanding the use of Kurdish, including radio and television broadcasts and letting politicians campaign in the language, insist on regional autonomy, which has fueled nationalist sentiment and tensions that threaten to derail efforts to end the armed conflict.
The country's National Security Council responded bluntly after a meeting Wednesday night, saying the country was indivisible and that no attempt at challenging the official Turkish language will be accepted.
"We cannot allow any attempt to deny that the official language of the Turkish Republic, which symbolizes common grounds such as one flag, one nation and one land is Turkish," said the website of the presidential palace, citing the Council statement.
President Abdullah Gul's visit to Diyarbakir, the largest city in the southeast, was pre-planned. He has cautioned against exploiting the issue and urged Kurdish politicians to act more responsibly.
The pro-Kurdish party, however, issued a statement ahead of his visit to stress their demands once again.
"We hope the President's Diyarbakir visit will lead the way to education in the mother tongue and the use of Kurdish in public areas, and for our people to freely govern itself within the reality of Turkey," it said Wednesday.
The pro-Kurdish party has strong electoral support in the southeast and has been pushing for autonomy in the run up to general elections next summer. Several predecessors of the party have been shut down by Turkey's top court on charges of ties to the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK, a rebel group labeled as terrorist by the West and the current party is currently probed on similar grounds.
Private courses in Kurdish are available, but the language is not taught in schools. Turkey's constitution says the official language is Turkish and prosecutors are opening investigations into direct challenges to the law. In the eastern town of Erentepe in Mus province, Kurdish authorities have posted dual-language signs at the mayor's office.
Gul was also welcomed by posters in Turkish and Kurdish on Thursday, television reports said.
Osman Baydemir, the mayor of Diyarbakir, was expected to present a Turkish-Kurdish dictionary to the president in a scheduled meeting later Thursday, news reports said.
The Kurdish language debate heated up in November, during the trial of dozens of Kurds, including elected mayors, on charges of having links to the PKK. The court refused the suspects' demand to defend themselves in Kurdish, on grounds that the defendants were fluent in Turkish.
Kurdish politicians and activists have been aggressively promoting official use of Kurdish in recent months as part of their growing demands for regional autonomy — a goal shared by rebels whose fight has killed tens of thousands of people so far.
The pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, buoyed by steps taken by the government in expanding the use of Kurdish, including radio and television broadcasts and letting politicians campaign in the language, insist on regional autonomy, which has fueled nationalist sentiment and tensions that threaten to derail efforts to end the armed conflict.
The country's National Security Council responded bluntly after a meeting Wednesday night, saying the country was indivisible and that no attempt at challenging the official Turkish language will be accepted.
"We cannot allow any attempt to deny that the official language of the Turkish Republic, which symbolizes common grounds such as one flag, one nation and one land is Turkish," said the website of the presidential palace, citing the Council statement.
President Abdullah Gul's visit to Diyarbakir, the largest city in the southeast, was pre-planned. He has cautioned against exploiting the issue and urged Kurdish politicians to act more responsibly.
The pro-Kurdish party, however, issued a statement ahead of his visit to stress their demands once again.
"We hope the President's Diyarbakir visit will lead the way to education in the mother tongue and the use of Kurdish in public areas, and for our people to freely govern itself within the reality of Turkey," it said Wednesday.
The pro-Kurdish party has strong electoral support in the southeast and has been pushing for autonomy in the run up to general elections next summer. Several predecessors of the party have been shut down by Turkey's top court on charges of ties to the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK, a rebel group labeled as terrorist by the West and the current party is currently probed on similar grounds.
Private courses in Kurdish are available, but the language is not taught in schools. Turkey's constitution says the official language is Turkish and prosecutors are opening investigations into direct challenges to the law. In the eastern town of Erentepe in Mus province, Kurdish authorities have posted dual-language signs at the mayor's office.
Gul was also welcomed by posters in Turkish and Kurdish on Thursday, television reports said.
Osman Baydemir, the mayor of Diyarbakir, was expected to present a Turkish-Kurdish dictionary to the president in a scheduled meeting later Thursday, news reports said.
The Kurdish language debate heated up in November, during the trial of dozens of Kurds, including elected mayors, on charges of having links to the PKK. The court refused the suspects' demand to defend themselves in Kurdish, on grounds that the defendants were fluent in Turkish.
Denmark: Terror suspects to face custody hearing
COPENHAGEN, Denmark - One of five men arrested possibly hours before a planned shooting attack on the office of a newspaper that published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad is to be released, a Danish intelligence official said Thursday.
The official told the AP that the man, an Iraqi asylum seeker who was arrested in Denmark, is being freed but remains a suspect. He gave no other details. Three other men still face hearings in Copenhagen on Thursday.
The Wednesday arrests rattled Danes and brought renewed attention to simmering anger at the Jyllands-Posten newspaper, which has been the target of several attacks and threats since publishing cartoons of Muhammad in 2005, in what it called a challenge to perceived self-censorship.
Four of the suspects, including the Iraqi, were arrested in the suburbs of Copenhagen in two raids while the fifth suspect, a Swedish citizen of Tunisian origin, was arrested in Sweden.
The official who spoke to the AP did not say why the Iraqi-born Danish resident was being released. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
Three of the arrested men in Copenhagen had arrived from Sweden in a rented car, which police followed from Stockholm.
The three Swedish residents — a 44-year-old Tunisian, a 29-year-old Lebanese-born man and a 30-year-old whose national origin was not released — face a closed-door custody hearing at the Glostrup City Court in the Danish capital later Thursday. Television footage showed heavily armed police officers outside the court building.
The men face preliminary charges of attempting to carry out an act of terrorism and possession of illegal weapons. Preliminary charges are a step short of formal charges, but if they are formally filed and they are convicted they could face life sentences.
Hours after the men were arrested, Jakob Scharf, head of the Danish Security and Intelligence Service, said they were "either heading out to carry out the terror attack or to do some kind of reconnaissance."
It wasn't immediately clear when the man arrested in a Stockholm suburb was expected to face custody hearings there, Swedish prosecution spokeswoman Karin Rosander said.
Scharf said Wednesday that the group had been planning a shooting spree in the building where the Jyllands-Posten has its Copenhagen newsdesk. He described some of the suspects as "militant Islamists with relations to international terror networks." He said more arrests were possible.
Scharf said the assault was to have been carried out sometime before this weekend, and could have been similar to the 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai, India, that left 166 people dead.
"It is our assessment that the plan was to try to get access" to the newspaper office and "carry out a Mumbai-style attack," Scharf told reporters.
The official told the AP that the man, an Iraqi asylum seeker who was arrested in Denmark, is being freed but remains a suspect. He gave no other details. Three other men still face hearings in Copenhagen on Thursday.
The Wednesday arrests rattled Danes and brought renewed attention to simmering anger at the Jyllands-Posten newspaper, which has been the target of several attacks and threats since publishing cartoons of Muhammad in 2005, in what it called a challenge to perceived self-censorship.
Four of the suspects, including the Iraqi, were arrested in the suburbs of Copenhagen in two raids while the fifth suspect, a Swedish citizen of Tunisian origin, was arrested in Sweden.
The official who spoke to the AP did not say why the Iraqi-born Danish resident was being released. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
Three of the arrested men in Copenhagen had arrived from Sweden in a rented car, which police followed from Stockholm.
The three Swedish residents — a 44-year-old Tunisian, a 29-year-old Lebanese-born man and a 30-year-old whose national origin was not released — face a closed-door custody hearing at the Glostrup City Court in the Danish capital later Thursday. Television footage showed heavily armed police officers outside the court building.
The men face preliminary charges of attempting to carry out an act of terrorism and possession of illegal weapons. Preliminary charges are a step short of formal charges, but if they are formally filed and they are convicted they could face life sentences.
Hours after the men were arrested, Jakob Scharf, head of the Danish Security and Intelligence Service, said they were "either heading out to carry out the terror attack or to do some kind of reconnaissance."
It wasn't immediately clear when the man arrested in a Stockholm suburb was expected to face custody hearings there, Swedish prosecution spokeswoman Karin Rosander said.
Scharf said Wednesday that the group had been planning a shooting spree in the building where the Jyllands-Posten has its Copenhagen newsdesk. He described some of the suspects as "militant Islamists with relations to international terror networks." He said more arrests were possible.
Scharf said the assault was to have been carried out sometime before this weekend, and could have been similar to the 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai, India, that left 166 people dead.
"It is our assessment that the plan was to try to get access" to the newspaper office and "carry out a Mumbai-style attack," Scharf told reporters.
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Brian Kidd claims Premier League title is 'Manchester United's to lose'
Brian Kidd believes the Premier League title is now "Manchester United's to lose" although he has confirmed Manchester City will explore every avenue in their search for an advantage.
It does appear the first road City will go down is the one to Edin Dzeko.
Mancini is a long-time fan of the big Bosnian, who impressed in the Champions League for Wolfsburg last season and has been viewed as one of the Italian's prime transfer targets.
There have been plenty of reports claiming that a fee has been agreed for Dzeko and negotiations over personal terms are well on their way to reaching a positive conclusion.
However, with the transfer window two days away from opening and a tricky encounter with Blackpool to fulfil, City are in no mood to confirm Dzeko's impending arrival.
"I don't think it's right to speak about other players at other clubs," said Kidd.
"Only one man will decide - and that's the boss.
"If he feels he can improve the squad and there's a player available he will definitely explore that."
The arrival of Dzeko would presumably come at the expense of Emmanuel Adebayor, who is set to end his unhappy stay at City in January.
Although it is Mancini's preference to play one man up front - usually skipper Carlos Tevez but Mario Balotelli scored a hat-trick in the role against Aston Villa on Tuesday - the 24-year-old would be a very useful battering ram, providing the Blues with a different option in a squad Kidd already feels is the best.
"I wouldn't swap our squad for anyone else's," he said.
"The lads have done terrifically well.
"It has always been a top four place that we were aiming for and we are doing OK on that.
"But nobody is getting carried away and we know there is a lot of hard work to come."
Having been part of title-winning outfits as Sir Alex Ferguson's number two at Manchester United, Kidd realises it takes more than pure ability to collect the major prizes.
Handling pressure is also a crucial factor, which is presumably why City's backroom staff are so keen to take it away from their club.
For as long as it was plausible, Mancini dismissed his own side's chances of glory by claiming Chelsea would finish top "easily".
That statement is clearly bankrupt, so Kidd is pointing to his own club who have destiny at their doorstep.
"It's obviously Manchester United's to lose now," he said.
"It is in their hands. You can't get away from that fact.
"They have been round the block and know how to win league titles.
"Their work is not done in January. Everyone gets kidded that they hit form about now but but they start with their preparation in July and go on from that."
Mancini intends to freshen up his side once more after collecting maximum points from the first two games of a four-match programme that ends with a significant trip to Arsenal next Wednesday.
Kolo Toure is expected to return, although with Jerome Boateng, Aleksandar Kolarov and Tevez as City look to become the first team to complete a league double over Ian Holloway's surprise packages.
Government beats off minimum wage challenge
The Government today fought off a legal challenge against new minimum wage legislation which comes into force on New Year's Day.
A High Court judge in London rejected criticism of a change in the rules which determine what should count as forming part of an employee's remuneration.
Mr Justice Kenneth Parker dismissed a judicial review action brought against Vince Cable, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
He ruled that there was nothing unlawful or irrational in relation to a legislative amendment to the Minimum Wage Regulations relating to the treatment of travel expenses payments.
The judge announced: "I find nothing irrational, unlawful or disproportionate in the conclusion reached by the Secretary of State that the amendment will materially simplify the regulatory regime for the minimum wage and, in particular, will materially enhance the ability of both employer and low paid employee to recognise whether or not they are paying and receiving at least the minimum wage prescribed by law."
The challenge was brought by the Cordant Group, a company with a number of subsidiaries which provide manpower staffing services in the security, cleaning and recruitment sectors to major companies and public sector organisations throughout the UK and Eire.
In his ruling the judge said Cordant "employs about 30,000 employees, many of them in unskilled jobs that are paid at or near the national minimum wage, and has for several years operated arrangements that will be affected by the challenged legislative change".
Mr Justice Parker said that with effect from January 1 an amendment to the rules meant that payments made by an employer to a worker in respect of travelling expenses "that are allowed as deductions from earnings under section 338 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pension) Act 2003" will not count towards meeting the obligation to pay the national minimum wage.
In rejecting permission to appeal, the judge said he had reached the "firm conclusion at the end of the day that this challenge was an attack on the economic merits of regulatory reform affecting the labour market in the guise of a common law and legal equality case".
He added: "I can discern no arguable basis why this amendment, which in what I have found to be the lawful conclusion of the Secretary of State brings substantial benefit to low paid workers, and is in the public interest, should not be implemented, as planned and announced, on January 1 2011."
Queen 'delighted' with Peter Phillips' new daughter
The Queen is "delighted" with the birth of her first great-grandchild - a baby girl.
Buckingham Palace announced that the wife of the Queen's grandson Peter Phillips gave birth to a daughter yesterday.
Autumn and Peter Phillips' first child, whose name is yet to be confirmed, weighed 8lbs 8oz when she was born at Gloucester shire Royal Hospital.
A statement from Buckingham Palace read: "The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Princess Royal, Captain Mark Phillips and Autumn's family have been informed and are delighted with the news."
The baby is the first child for Mr and Mrs Phillips, the first grandchild for the Princess Royal and the first great-grandchild for the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. She is 12th in line to the throne.
Mr Phillips was present at the birth.
Mr Phillips, the Queen's eldest grandson, married his Canadian-born wife at a glittering ceremony at Windsor Castle in May 2008.
The son of the Princess Royal met his wife in 2003 at the Montreal Grand Prix, where they were both working.
Initially, he did not tell her that he was the Queen's grandson and she only found out when she spotted him in a programme about Prince William.
Mrs Phillips is a former Roman Catholic but was accepted into the Church of England shortly before the wedding.
Had she not changed churches, Mr Phillips would have had to give up his right to become king.
The couple faced controversy two years ago after being paid a reported £500,000 by a glossy magazine for photographs of their wedding.
The Queen and the Duke have welcomed the births of eight grandchildren since their first, Peter, was born in June 1977.
Each of their four children have two of their own, the most recent being the son of Edward and the Countess of Wessex, Viscount Severn, who was born in December 2007.
The birth of Peter and Autumn's daughter could well be the first of a number of great-grandchildren for the Queen and Duke, following the recent engagements of Prince William to Kate Middleton and Zara Phillips to Mike Tindall.
Yesterday's birth has an impact on the line of succession to the throne, with the baby moving ahead of Zara Phillips into 12th position.
Boy, 17, arrested over man's death
A boy of 17 was arrested today by detectives investigating the death of a middle-aged man at his seaside home.
The teenager was held on suspicion of manslaughter after the 49-year-old man suffered a head injury and collapsed.
The victim, who has not been named, died while being treated by paramedics in Valencia Road, Worthing, West Sussex, just before midnight yesterday.
It is understood that the teenage suspect and the victim were known to each other. The boy was arrested at 2am after officers visited another property in Worthing.
Detective Inspector Phil Mays, of Sussex Police, said: "We are treating this as a suspicious death and making detailed inquiries to establish the exact circumstances in which the man died."
Violent deaths in Iraq fall 'but at slower rate'
The number of civilians killed by violence in Iraq in the past year was the lowest since the 2003 US-led invasion, a rights group has said.
Iraq Body Count (IBC), which collates casualty reports, said deaths dropped by 15% from 2009 to just under 4,000.
It said two bombs exploded each day on average, each killing four people.
But the group warned the number may have reached an "impassable minimum", and that civilians were likely to die at a similar rate for years to come.
IBC said 3,976 people had died violently in Iraq over the past year, compared to 4,680 in 2009. Of the 2010 deaths, 66% were caused by insurgent bomb attacks.
The capital Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul were the worst affected areas.
"After nearly eight years, the security crisis in Iraq remains notable for its sheer relentlessness: 2010 averaged nearly two explosions a day by non-state forces that caused civilian deaths," IBC said.
"As well as occurring almost daily, these lethal explosions can happen almost anywhere, with 2010's attacks occurring in 13 of Iraq's 18 administrative regions."
'Persistent conflict' IBC said that a marked fall in the rate of deaths after the US forces ended their combat mission on 31 August was "somewhat more hopeful".
The date was "followed by an immediate halving in the number of civilian deaths between August and September, and lowered levels have continued into the winter months", it said.
But while the number of deaths has continued to fall since a peak in 2006 and 2007, the rate of decline has also dropped, from 50% and 63% in previous years.
IBC said that while any reduction in the rate of violence was welcome, "the slowdown in reductions is indicative of an impassable minimum that may have been reached".
"Taken as a whole and seen in the context of immediately preceding years, the 2010 data suggest a persistent low-level conflict in Iraq that will continue to kill civilians at a similar rate for years to come."
A total of 4,470 coalition military personnel have died in Iraq since 2003.
The BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says that while no-one can claim to have wholly accurate figures on civilian deaths in Iraq, IBC has established itself as probably the most respected and quoted source on this very controversial issue.
Its annual review comes as a reminder, our correspondent adds, that while levels of violence have come down sharply, people are still being killed here every day.
IBC arrives at its figures by cross-checking media reports or body discoveries with eyewitness accounts and interview with officials and medical or morgue workers.
Overall, the group says 108,398 Iraqis have died in violence since 2003 - about one in every 1,000 people in the country. The figures are much higher than those reported by the Iraqi government.
US military document released by Wikileaks indicate another 15,000 civilian deaths could be added to the count.
Other reports and surveys have resulted in a wide range of estimates of Iraqi deaths. The UN-backed Iraqi Family Health Survey estimated 151,000 violent deaths in the period March 2003 - June 2006.
Meanwhile, The Lancet journal in 2006 published an estimate of 654,965 excess Iraqi deaths related to the war of which 601,027 were caused by violence.
Both this and the Family Health Survey include deaths of Iraqi combatants as well as civilians.
Saudi royal buys landmark Crillon hotel in Paris
The prestigious Hotel de Crillon in the heart of Paris has been sold to a member of the Saudi royal family.
The 18th Century former palace, on the Place de la Concorde, is said to have been bought for around 250m euros (£212m, $328m).The Crillon is currently owned by US company Starwood Capital which acquired the hotel when it took over the Taittinger empire in 2005.
An earlier attempt to sell the hotel to Saudi-backed JJW ended up in court.
In April, the court ruled that JJW would have to pay Starwood 100m euros to settle the dispute, which involved an alleged breach of contract.
The Crillon was built in 1758 and 20 years later was the setting for a key treaty between the US and France. In 1789, King Louis XVI was guillotined in the square in front of the hotel.
The identity of the new buyer has not been disclosed although Groupe du Louvre, the Starwood subsidiary that runs the Crillon, said in a statement that it was an "eminent member of the Saudi royal family".
The hotel, which has 147 rooms and employs 360 staff, is likely to be run by Swiss hotel group Kempinski after a handover period lasting up to one year.
Almost all the luxury hotels in Paris have been bought by foreign groups. The George V is owned by Saudi prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, and Egyptian businessman Mohamed Fayed has the Ritz.
Indian Citibank 'fraudster' arrested
Police in India have arrested a Citibank employee accused of defrauding clients out of millions of dollars.
Shivraj Puri, 32, who is expected to appear in court later, told an Indian newspaper he was innocent. The alleged fraud was discovered earlier this month in a branch of the global bank in Gurgaon, a wealthy suburb of Delhi.
The bank has said duped investors were promised quick, high returns from a bogus financial scheme.
It is alleged that Mr Puri funnelled the money into accounts controlled by three relatives.
'Truth will out' Mr Puri reportedly handed himself in on Thursday, a day after police said he was wanted for questioning.
The accused told the Times of India newspaper after his arrest: "I have already given full details to the police. I have full faith in the judiciary. Truth will come out."
The alleged fraud came to light earlier this month when a client mentioned the scheme to a senior bank manager.
Citibank has not publicly put a figure on the sums involved, but investigators have said at least $20m (£13m) was stolen.
According to a police complaint filed by Citibank, and seen by the BBC, funds were transferred suspiciously at the bank's branch in the Delhi suburb from October 2009.
Khodorkovsky gets six more years in Russia jail
Imprisoned former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man, has been sentenced to six more years in jail for fraud.
With his current sentence due to expire next year, Khodorkovsky, 47, now faces imprisonment until 2017. He could "only be reformed by being isolated from society", the judge's verdict said.
Khodorkovsky was convicted on Monday in a judgment criticised by the US and others as selective justice.
Once seen as a threat to former President Vladimir Putin, he was found guilty along with former business partner Platon Lebedev of stealing billions of dollars from their own oil firm, Yukos, and laundering the proceeds.
After Washington accused Russia of applying selective justice, the Kremlin said in effect the outside world should mind its own business.
Lawyers for the two defendants are expected to appeal but if Khodorkovsky does remain in jail until 2017, it will mean he does not return to society until well after the next Russian presidential election.
Some analysts have suggested he could otherwise pose a political threat to the Kremlin's candidate in 2012.
'Damn you!' Khodorkovsky and Lebedev were first arrested in 2003 and sentenced in 2005 for fraud and tax evasion.
On Thursday, the court in Moscow sentenced the two men to 14 years in prison, to run concurrently with the eight-year term handed down in 2005.
The term includes time served since the two men's arrest.Judge Viktor Danilkin had been reading the 800-page verdict out since Monday.
As sentence was passed, a woman in the courtroom shouted "May you and your offspring be damned!", according to an AFP news agency correspondent.
The two defendants, however, are said to have reacted calmly to the decision.
Supporters of the two defendants have held rallies outside the courthouse to condemn Mr Putin and the Kremlin.
'Putin's hand' Defence lawyer Yury Shmidt told reporters that the sentence amounted to "lawlessness".
He accused the Russian authorities "headed by Putin" of leaning on the justice system.
"Putin signalled to the court who today is the boss and who today decides Khodorkovsky's fate and life," he added.
The defence has argued that the charges were absurd since the amount of oil said to have been embezzled would be equivalent to the entire production of Yukos in the period concerned.
"If they stole billions, then I ask: where are those billions?" Khodorkovsky's father Boris told reporters at the trial.
"Does he have anything of his own now, does he have personal property?"
After tax police filed enormous claims for unpaid taxes against Yukos, Khodorkovsky's old company filed for bankruptcy in 2006.
Israel ex-President Moshe Katsav found guilty of rape
He was found guilty of raping an employee in the 1990s when he was tourism minister and of later sexual offences while he was president.
The judges said they believed the evidence of the woman whose testimony had led to two charges of rape.
Moshe Katsav resigned from the largely ceremonial post of head of state in 2007 and was indicted in March 2009.
State prosecutor Ronit Amiel said the verdict carried a message to other victims of abuse of power that they should not remain silent.
'Riddled with lies' The former president, 65, who was in office for seven years from 2000, had denied the charges, the most serious ever leveled against an Israeli head of state.
The further charges related to claims of sexual harassment of two women in 2003 and 2005 during his presidency.
Reading the verdict, Judge George Karra who presided over a panel with two other judges, said: "We believe the plaintiff [Woman A] because her testimony is supported by elements of evidence, and she told the truth."
Katsav's evidence, the judges decided, was "riddled with lies".
Although members of his family were with him in court, his wife Gila was not. He appeared to be visibly distraught as the verdict was read out and one of his sons was heard saying repeatedly "it's not true".
Sentencing is expected to take place next month and before the former president left court, he was told to surrender his passport.
'Lynching' Moshe Katsav was born in Iran and immigrated at the age of six to Israel with his family in 1951. He joined the right-wing Likud party and held a number of ministerial posts before becoming president.
The allegations against him first surfaced in 2006 and led to him stepping down the following year, to be replaced by current President Shimon Peres.
After his indictment, he gave a televised news conference claiming he was the "victim of a lynching" organised by then-Attorney General Menahem Mazuz.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was a "sad day for the State of Israel and its citizens" but added that the trial was a sign of strength of the country's judicial system.
"Today the court conveyed two clear-cut messages, that all are equal before the law and that every woman has exclusive rights to her body," he said.
Women's groups in Israel have welcomed the verdict, arguing that allegations of sexual harassment are too often ignored.
The judges said they believed the evidence of the woman whose testimony had led to two charges of rape.
Moshe Katsav resigned from the largely ceremonial post of head of state in 2007 and was indicted in March 2009.
While his resignation caused shock across Israel, it had limited political consequences.
Rape commands a jail term in Israel of at least four years, although Katsav is thought to be likely to contest the conviction in Israel's supreme court.State prosecutor Ronit Amiel said the verdict carried a message to other victims of abuse of power that they should not remain silent.
'Riddled with lies' The former president, 65, who was in office for seven years from 2000, had denied the charges, the most serious ever leveled against an Israeli head of state.
According to the indictment, the rape charges dated back to April 1998 when the former employee described as Woman A alleged he had first raped her at the tourism ministry office and later at a hotel in Jerusalem.
The further charges related to claims of sexual harassment of two women in 2003 and 2005 during his presidency.
Reading the verdict, Judge George Karra who presided over a panel with two other judges, said: "We believe the plaintiff [Woman A] because her testimony is supported by elements of evidence, and she told the truth."
Katsav's evidence, the judges decided, was "riddled with lies".
Although members of his family were with him in court, his wife Gila was not. He appeared to be visibly distraught as the verdict was read out and one of his sons was heard saying repeatedly "it's not true".
Sentencing is expected to take place next month and before the former president left court, he was told to surrender his passport.
Katsav, president for seven years until 2007, had rejected a plea bargain
His son, Boaz, told reporters the family would fight on to prove his innocence. "We will continue to walk with our heads high, so all the nation throughout its generations, with God's help, will know that father, the eighth president of the State of Israel, is innocent."'Lynching' Moshe Katsav was born in Iran and immigrated at the age of six to Israel with his family in 1951. He joined the right-wing Likud party and held a number of ministerial posts before becoming president.
The allegations against him first surfaced in 2006 and led to him stepping down the following year, to be replaced by current President Shimon Peres.
After his indictment, he gave a televised news conference claiming he was the "victim of a lynching" organised by then-Attorney General Menahem Mazuz.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was a "sad day for the State of Israel and its citizens" but added that the trial was a sign of strength of the country's judicial system.
"Today the court conveyed two clear-cut messages, that all are equal before the law and that every woman has exclusive rights to her body," he said.
Women's groups in Israel have welcomed the verdict, arguing that allegations of sexual harassment are too often ignored.
Last of Dutch Somalis in alleged terror plot freed
Prosecutors say the last of a group of 12 Somalis arrested in the Netherlands last week on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack has been freed.
The group was taken into custody on 24 December after a tip from the country's intelligence agency and were then released in the days afterward. Prosecutors now say there is no evidence at all against nine.
Three, including the man released today, remain suspects, apparently based on evidence contained in the still-secret intelligence agency file.
No weapons or explosives were found in raids on their homes and businesses.
The intelligence agency and Justice Ministry have say authorities acted correctly in the case, even though apparently innocent people were jailed, as security concerns outweigh other rights.
Migration 'set to continue at current levels'
Net migration is unlikely to fall much below current levels next year, a think tank predicted today.
Increased immigration from European countries not covered by the Government's proposed immigration cap, along with a downward trend in emigration, will all lead to net migration staying around the 200,000 level in 2011, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said.
It warned that introducing "hasty measures" so the Government can try to fulfil its pledge of cutting net migration to the tens of thousands by 2015 would be damaging to the UK's economy.
Nick Pearce, IPPR director, said: "Ministers must be careful to manage down public expectations.
"The cap on skilled migration from outside the EU, which the Government has already put in place, could hurt the economic recovery. Other hasty measures to reduce numbers artificially would be even more damaging.
"Bringing down the level of immigration, which has been high in recent years, is a legitimate policy goal.
"But this should be done by making long-term and sustainable reforms to the structure of our economy and labour market."
The IPPR's Migration Review 2010/11 said that if the UK economy continued to recover, the number of people coming to the UK for work could increase.
The number of migrants coming from Spain, Portugal, Greece and some of the newer member states could also rise if the UK economy performs stronger than countries in the eurozone.
And the substantial rise in the number of people coming to the UK from Latvia and Lithuania - up 19,000 and 21,000 respectively in the year to September compared with increases of 12,000 and 13,000 the previous year - could also continue.
The number of Irish migrants is also expected to increase, with the Economic and Social Research Institute predicting 120,000 Irish nationals could leave, with many coming to the UK.
From next April, the number of migrant workers coming to Britain from outside the EU will be cut by a fifth and capped at 21,700, but this is only expected to cut overall immigration by 2% or 3%.
And emigration by UK citizens has dropped substantially - from just more than 30,000 in the year to March 2010, compared with 130,000 in the previous 12 months - and "there is no obvious reason why this trend should change substantially in 2011".
Other forms of migration - refugee flows, family migration and the return of Britons to the UK - "look set to continue at roughly their current levels", it said.
Immigration Minister Damian Green said: "The Government remains absolutely committed to reducing net migration to sustainable levels - from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands within the lifetime of this Parliament.
"Throughout 2011 we will be introducing extra controls to affect every immigration route.
"We will exert steady downward pressure on immigration numbers through the course of this Parliament, which is the sensible way to deal with the uncontrolled immigration system we inherited."
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